Singer Borrowed RM5,000 For Album, Loan Sharks Are Now Demanding RM49,400

Singer Borrowed RM5,000 For Album, Loan Sharks Are Now Demanding RM49,400 — And Say They’re Untouchable

0 Sara Smith May 08, 2026

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It started with a WhatsApp message.

In April, a 39-year-old Chinese-Indian singer based in Selangor, who needed money to produce a new album, received an unsolicited message from what appeared to be a legitimate lending company.

She borrowed RM5,000, and after fees were deducted, she received RM2,500.

The loan shark victim, known as Yu, has not been able to get out from under it since.

Unable to meet repayment deadlines, she took loans from three more lenders to cover what she owed — a cycle commonly known as “borrowing new to repay old.”

The four loans carried a combined nominal value of RM45,000; she received RM17,800.

The four lenders, she now believes, were the same group of people.

Threats Followed When She Stopped Paying

Within a month, Yu had repaid RM20,300 — more than the total amount she actually received.

The lenders told her the interest was calculated hourly, and they are now demanding RM49,400.

When Yu stopped making payments after realising she had been defrauded, the lenders began a harassment campaign.

They posted her photographs and personal details on social media, labelling her a cheat.

They threatened to splash paint on her home, burn it down, and kidnap her family members, while her husband was also harassed.

A Caution to Others

The lenders told her they had the backing of a Datuk Seri and were not afraid of the police, and warned her she would not be free of them for the rest of the year.

Yu held a press conference on Thursday (7 May), accompanied by MCA Public Services and Complaints Bureau chief Datuk Seri Michael Chong, who hopes to assist her in resolving the matter.

She said she had exhausted her savings and urged the public to be wary of unsolicited loan offers on social media.

I trusted them because they said they were legitimate. That was my mistake.

Cases like Yu’s frequently surface through MCA’s complaints bureau, which has long served as an informal first port of call for the Chinese community, in particular, for disputes involving loan sharks, scams, and civil harassment.

Malaysians facing similar situations can also contact Persatuan Hak Masyarakat Malaysia (PHMM), an NGO specialising in loan shark harassment cases, at 014-640 0433 or aduan.phmm@gmail.com.

Local state assemblymen and MPs are also a practical first step, as most service centres routinely handle constituent complaints of this nature.